President Donald Trump said the US has launched a large-scale military strike on Venezuela and claimed that Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro and his wife have been captured and flown out of the country.
Trump said the operation was conducted "in conjunction with US law enforcement" and that further details would follow. He made the announcement in a post on social media platform Truth Social on Saturday, adding that a news conference would be held at 11:00 Florida time at his Mar-a-Lago residence.
Earlier in the day, Venezuela's government accused the US of launching an attack after explosions were reported in the capital, Caracas. Videos circulating on social media platform X showed explosions and aircraft flying overhead. Venezuela said military and civilian targets had been hit across three regions and called on "political and social forces" to rally against what it described as US aggression.
There was no independent confirmation of Maduro's capture, and the situation on the ground remains unclear.
The strike comes as Venezuela — a member of the Opec+ producer group — faces growing uncertainty over its oil exports. Any sustained disruption would primarily affect the global heavy-sour crude market. Opec+'s core group of eight producers is scheduled to meet on Sunday to review supply policy, with delegates earlier this week saying they still expect first-quarter output to remain unchanged. Argus has reached out to Opec+ delegates for comment.
In recent weeks, Maduro had publicly called for dialogue with Trump "whenever and wherever," while offering expanded access to Venezuelan oil for US companies. Chevron operates in Venezuela with state-owned PdV under a waiver from US sanctions. It imported about 120,000 b/d of crude from Venezuela to the US in December, based on data from Kpler ship tracking. That has fallen from about 200,000 b/d Chevron was importing early in 2025 before its previous waiver expired in May, later replaced with a modified waiver.
Sour relations
Relations between the US and Venezuela have sharply deteriorated since early September, when Washington deployed naval vessels, marines and aircraft to the Caribbean under what it described as counter-narcotics operations. The campaign escalated as the US Navy reported destroying 25 boats allegedly carrying drugs and killing around 100 crew members.
The scope of the operation widened after the US Coast Guard seized a Venezuelan tanker on 10 December carrying crude bound for Cuba. Trump declared a blockade on 16 December targeting Venezuelan tankers under US sanctions and demanded the return of what he described as "oil, land and other assets" expropriated by Caracas. A second tanker was detained on 20 December, and Trump later suggested the seized crude could be auctioned or added to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Last month, he warned that the campaign would "only get bigger".
Caracas responded by ordering naval escorts for its tankers, while Washington said its vessels were operating in international waters. Venezuelan officials accused the US of "piracy" and "extrajudicial executions" and sought diplomatic backing from Russia. Venezuelan foreign minister Yvan Gil said his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov had expressed "full co-operation and support" for Caracas.
Maduro has led Venezuela since 2013, following the death of his predecessor and political mentor Hugo Chavez. He previously served as foreign minister and executive vice-president under Chavez. Maduro was declared re-elected in 2024 despite reports that opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez won by a wide margin.
